Khodrocar - BMW says that it has targeted outselling firm rival Mercedes-Benz in the
next two years – the Munich-based car maker was long a leader in the
premium area of the market, but in recent years has been overtaken by
Mercedes.

However, BMW is convinced that it can close the gap,
and overhaul its rivals once again by the start of the next decade, with
a renewed push to bring in new models and capture sales from other
brands.

"In 2020 we will be the number one in terms of unit sales
again," BMW CEO Harald Krüger told German monthly Manager Magazin. "I
am holding my team to that target, even if it won’t be a walk in the
park. It’s not enough just to be in the lead when it comes to sales.
Being a quality leader, number one in customer satisfaction – that’s
what our employees have to be excited about."

BMW
was the global leader in luxury car sales for around 10 years, but in
2016 Mercedes overtook the Munich brand thanks to a strong demand for
its SUVs and the popularity of its A-Class hatchback, which has outsold
BMW's 1 Series. Last year, BMW's sales rose by 4.2 percent in 2017 to
2.09 million passenger cars and SUVs, but Mercedes enjoyed a 9.9 percent
gain to 2.29 million units. Mercedes' performance in the ever-more
important Chinese market also had a hand in its success.

Away
from sales, BMW and Mercedes also share a rivalry in the mobility
industry. Daimler, which owns Mercedes, also owns Car2go, a car sharing
app, as well as a taxi booking service called Mytaxi and navigation app
Moovel. Meanwhile, BMW owns DriveNow, ParkNow and ChargeNow, and has its
own Institute for Mobility Research.